


A Blank Page

by 473days_apart



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Ongniel, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-01 17:10:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11490888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/473days_apart/pseuds/473days_apart
Summary: A blank page: a clean, white page completely devoid of any content that: 1) can be filled with numerous thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams; 2) can be easily dirtied, stained, ripped, and thrown away.Kang Daniel used to be a bright kid with an even brighter future in dance, but when an unforeseeable accident occurs, his life takes a complete 180. Several years later, just when he thought he buried his past, a familiar face shows up and the reoccurring nightmares begins to resurface once again.Can Daniel overcome his past to rekindle his lost passion, or will he drown in the never-ending cycle of despair?





	1. Prologue

_“I used to fill these blank pages with love, hope, and dreams for the future… If only I knew these pages would soon be stained with tears and a heavy heart.”_

 

♥ / / / . . . 옹넬 . . . / / / ♥

His right hand reaches towards the spotlight, getting his fingers gracefully dance as if he is sprinkling magic dust over the stage. He could feel his cheeks flush with excitement as he is nearing the climax. The music picks up, and his feet moves with each beat, matching each one precisely and effortlessly just as he has practiced for the past few months. His body twirls, jumps, and dances; he gives everything he has to these last few seconds. Before he knows it, the music stops, and he ends with his final pose to the roaring excitement of the crowd.

Kang Euigeon grins from ear to ear, stretching widely as he huffs and puffs to catch his breath. Taking a bow, he hurries off the stage to the cheers of his fellow dancers and teachers. Words of praise reaches him as older hyungs and noonas pat him on the back and ruffle his hair, but he is too drowned in his own exhilaration that the rest of the night flies by and before he knows it, he finds the first-place trophy in his hands and congratulations all around him.

He is thrilled, honoured, and proud to have won his year’s youth dance competition. His parents come up to him just as excited as he is.

“Congratulations my little Euigeon,” his mother hugs him. “Why don’t we go out somewhere to celebrate?”

Just as he is about to agree, something comes to mind. Sheepishly, he pulls away. “Actually… I want to go celebrate with my friends,” he murmurs, looking away from his parents.

“That’s right, Honey,” his father turns to his wife. “He’s already twelve. He probably feels embarrassed to be hanging around his parents.”

His wife frowns. “But, it’s getting late…” she glances at her watch, which read 9:16 p.m.

“It’s fine, Mom,” Euigeon pouts. “I’ll be with my friends, and I know this neighbourhood well. _Nothing’s_ going to happen,” he emphasises, practically begging. “I’ll be back by ten-thirty—promise!”

His mother pauses, wanting to argue but gives in. Waving goodbye to them, Euigeon watches as his parents drive away. When they are out of sight, he quietly brings his hands together and prays, “Dear God, I’m sorry for lying to my parents. Forgive me just this once.”

Quickly, he grabs his jacket, pulls up a face mask to cover the lower half of his face, and slips out of the building without anyone noticing.

He hurries down a familiar set of streets, turning into an alleyway where few people walk the narrow streets of the unkempt neighbourhood. As he nears his destination, his heart flutters with excitement. He can hear the contrasting sounds of harsher, more coarse-sounding music as opposed to the more melodic, gentle music that played during his dance competition. Sounds of cheers roar from the crowd in front of him as he slips pass a ragged fence and into an old, abandon basketball court, blending into the crowd.

Pushing his way to the front, his lips stretches into a wide smile upon spotting the cause of his excitement: street dancing.

He cheers along with the crowds as a dance battle went underway. Popping, b-boying, krumping, waacking, and more: the style and movements amaze this twelve-year old.

Euigeon grew up learning modern dance, so when one of his friends took him to see a dance battle a year ago, he has grown extremely fascinated with the style that differs in comparison to the type of dance he is used to. He wants to learn as well, but Euigeon isn’t sure how to approach his parents on the matter. His father is a pastor, and being his son, would it be strange if a pastor’s son enjoys the rough art of street dance?

So, even though he knows it’s wrong, he keeps his fascination a secret from his parents.

When the music finishes and the two dancers in the middle left the circle, Euigeon decides to take this chance and jumps into the battle. Even though he is still new, he is confident in his abilities as a dancer. His opponent is a boy around his age, although, with the dim lighting and the cap that shadows his face, it is difficult to see his face. Euigeon isn’t sure what, but there’s something captivating about him. He starts first, showing his fluid skills at popping. The boy’s moves are sharp and precise, letting his arms and legs move as if he is possessed by the god of dance.

The boy is good, but Euigeon doesn’t want to lose. Hearing the music about to change tempo, Euigeon moves his feet to begin his dance.

Flashing a sly grin, he throws his body to the ground spinning it. Round and round and round, the thrill rushes from the tip of his toes to the top of his head. Out of all the styles of street dance, b-boying is his favourite. There is just something about b-boying that amazes him and causes a rush of excitement to enter his body at the sight of those slick moves that displays both creativity and strength.

His mind blanks and his body moves—everything is on complete auto-pilot; even Euigeon isn’t sure how well he is dancing, but the bellow of the crowd renews his confidence in his skills in the world of street dance.

Ending his move, he watches as the boy flings himself back into the ring, not wanting to lose to a kid his age. Euigeon, again, is impressed by the boy—not just by his powerful moves but the way he delivers with excitement radiating from his eyes. He could tell that the boy loves to dance just as much as Euigeon does.

In that moment, the boy suddenly comes close to him and flashes a cocky, yet cute, smirk in Euigeon’s direction. For a second, Euigeon’s mind blanks as his heart skips a beat. Quickly placing a hand over his heart, he tries to calm his racing heart.

 _What was that?_ He asks himself, slightly blushing as he gawks at the boy. _Maybe it’s because he’s just_ that _good at dance! Yeah, that’s it!_

Euigeon concludes that he likes this boy and wants to be his friend—maybe he can get his contact information afterwards. It would be cool if he has someone to practice with and talk to about dance. The thought of being this boy’s friends triggers a smile from Euigeon. However, not a second later, a strange noise catches his attention.

 _What's that noise?_ Euigeon looks around. It seems as if no one notice as they continue to cheer on his opponent. His hearing has always been good, and just as he is about to disregard the noise, he hears it again: a creaking sound of metal against metal.

Over the roar of the crowd and music, he spots the source of the noise and pales: the scoreboard, which is placed directly in front of the dance arena, is falling.

Without thinking, he rushes to the boy in the middle, completely unaware of the danger that is about to happen.

“Look out!” Euigeon cries, and the scoreboard snaps off. The crowd screams but all the noise went deaf in Euigeon’s ear as his hands pushes the body of the boy in front of him.

Before he knows what’s happening, a loud crash can be heard, and his mind fizzles.

Euigeon groans; his mind is distorted, and he doesn’t know what is going on. He thinks someone is shouting to him. He wants to reply, but all he could get out is a whimper.

He couldn’t move his body.

He couldn’t think straight.

What is happening?

As he starts fading in and out of consciousness, something warm touches his hand. Someone is shouting again.

Opening his eyes, he realises his eyes has gone blurry. It hurts to concentrate on the face in front of him. A sound of desperation reaches him, and his vision clears for a split second before he slips into darkness.

The last thing he remembers seeing is three dots, forming perfectly into a triangle.

 

♥ / / / . . . 옹넬 . . . / / / ♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is my first fanfic on AO3!
> 
> This is also my first romance story, so I'll apologise before hand, but this is going to be a really slow burn... like REALLY slow. I'll try to fluff up the story as much as I can but don't expect too much lovey-dovey stuff at the beginning.
> 
> Also, I may be slow at updates... I started writing this story due to the insanity and boredom of waiting for W1 updates and from the OngNiel drought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel begins life as a university student and bumps into someone oddly familiar.

_“I washed the stains from the page, restoring it back to that blank page… but as it dries, I know that page will never again be the same smooth and beautiful page that it has once been.”_

♥ / / / . . . 옹넬 . . . / / / ♥

“Daniel! Wake up!”

A young man groans, blinking open his eyes for a second before sleep envelops him again.

“Daniel! We need to get going or we’ll be stuck in traffic!” his mother yells, knocking loudly on the door.

Daniel opens his eyes again, but all he sees is pitch black. He groans again, “But Mom, it’s still dark outside.”

“What are you talking about? It’s almost ten!” his mother replies. “Hurry and get ready! We’re leaving in half-an-hour.”

“Ten…?” Daniel furrows his brows in confusion as all he could see is darkness. Blinking away the sleepiness, he finally realises that something soft and warm is on his face. “Peter, is that you?”

“Meow?” Before he could remove the cat, Peter jumps off Daniel’s face, quickly scaling up the walls above his head and out of reach.

Drowsily, he sits up and tries to reach for his cat. “Come here,” he coos to the orange, striped cat on his dresser. “And where’s your sister?” he wonders aloud but gets his answer as something jumps on his back, knocking him out of bed. “Agh… Rooney!”

The spotted cat looks at him innocently before she runs into hiding just as the door to his room open. His mother raised a brow at him as he lays half in bed and half on the ground.

“Kang Daniel, stop playing around and get ready.”

“But Mom! Peter and Rooney—” he began but realises that both his cats have disappeared. _Clever cats…_ He sighs, “Nevermind…”

He hurriedly gets out of bed as he begins his morning routine. Opening his dresser and finding something to wear from the half-empty dresser, he pulls on fresh clothes. As he tugs his baggy jeans on, his eyes spot the skin-coloured knee brace around his right knee. Quickly looking away, he pulls up his pant and pushes the thoughts out of his head.

 _Not today, please._ He prays silently before resuming his activities.

The morning flew by as he finishes packing and loading his stuff into the car. Stretching his arms towards the bright blue sky, he grins.

Today, he will officially be a university student. He is excited to finally live independently, away from his nagging parents. His freshman orientation starts today and lasts for a week before he would begin his studies as a pre-vet student. His love for animals made it an obvious choice for his future career goals, and although he isn’t the best student, he studied hard these past few years to get into the prestigious Wanna One University.

“Ready to go?” his father asks as both of his parents get into the car.

“Um, just a minute,” he says and hurries back into the house.

Reaching his room, he looks around and suddenly catches his reflection in the mirror. A bright young man with messy peach pink hair grins back at him. His two front teeth, resembling bunny teeth flashes in the mirror—something the neighbourhood ahjummas love to fond over. He shudders at the thought. It’s something he wouldn’t miss. He is nineteen now, and hoping the word “cute” would no longer be associated with him.

Spotting the object of his search staring at him, he scoops them up into his arms and kisses both on the head. Peter and Rooney purr in his arms as they look at him sadly, knowing it’s goodbye for now. Even though his cats can be mischievous and enjoy messing with him, he knows that he will miss them a great deal.

Sighing, he takes one last sweep across his room to check if he missed anything. Inside his closet, he spots a dusty cardboard box hidden in the corner, seemingly untouched for several years—a box containing the things he loved and treasured as a child… but those things are useless to him now. His eyes linger for a few seconds before breaking contact and firmly closing the doors to his closet. His hands remain on the doors of the closet as he breaths in and out, in and out.

Why is that box there? He should have thrown it away years ago. He doesn’t need it anymore.

Never again.

Peter meows, diverting his attention back to his cats. He spots them standing next to a duffel bag that he forgot to put in the car.

“Smart babies,” he coos, picking up the bag, but just then an idea suddenly comes to mind as he eyes his cats. Hurriedly, he opens his bag, but before he could put his cats inside, his mother calls from downstairs.

“Hurry up Daniel! And don’t you dare smuggle your cats in one of your bags! We’ll know if they’re missing!”

Daniel curses and sighs. He gives one last kiss to each of his babies before he turns and leaves.

Watching his hometown disappear from view, the excitement turns into nervousness, and various worries comes to mind.

What if he can’t make new friends? Sure, his childhood friends and brother are students at Wanna One University, but they are all older than him, and he should probably hang out with people closer to his age.

What if he doesn’t do well in school? He isn’t naturally gifted in academics and had to put in an insane amount of time and effort during high school to get high marks, and he heard that post-secondary school is ten times harder. He doesn’t want to disappoint his parents.

What if he just can’t fit in? He doesn’t want to worry others, but he usually keeps all his troubles lock deep within his heart anyways…

Leaning back, flashes from what happened seven years ago linger in his mind. Although he doesn’t remember most of what happened just before and during the incident, he does remember the aftermath as clear as day: the pain, the tears… the heartbreak of knowing things will never be the same again. He struggled so much during that time, pushing his parents into a state of distress and worry about his health and mentality. Their crying faces haunts him to this day, and he vows never to worry them again.

So, he smiles and continues to smile.

If he looks happy, no one will have to worry.

No one will be sad.

 _No one_ will have to know.

♥ / / / . . . 옹넬 . . . / / / ♥

“Ah, what a gorgeous day today,” Hwang Minhyun exclaimed, leaning back into his chair. A barista glances shyly at him before she sets his drink down and hurries off, giggling. “I can’t believe we’re already third years.”

“You, hyungs, will be third years,” Kim Jaehwan corrected, taking a bite into his sandwich. “I’ll be in my second year.”

Jaehwan’s phone beeps, and he starts texting angrily, most likely to his roommate, Jung Sewoon. Apparently, they are writing a song together for the Music Department’s orientation for the new first years—since they were the top students last year—but have conflicting ideas. At this rate, Minhyun is pretty sure they won’t finish in time as they’re been arguing for over a week now.

Sighing, Minhyun turns to his one of his childhood friends, Choi Minki, who is staring at something with binoculars from the windows.

“You do realise how suspicious you look, right?” Minhyun points out with a raise of a brow. Sometimes, he questions his friend’s sanity.

“It’s fine; it’s fine,” he says without turning away. “No one can see us anyways.”

They were currently on the second floor of a popular campus café, which overlooks the majority of the campus. The campus is fairly empty right now as new and returning students are preparing to move in and get ready for the semester. Most of the people currently on campus are the orientation leaders—one of which is his good friend Kim Jonghyun—and the new first years and their parents, who were saying goodbye to them.

Minhyun picks up his drink, taking a slip as he looks to where Minki is looking. Squinting his eyes, it appears that Minki is checking out the new students. Before Minhyun could ask, Minki answered.

“Just wondering if there’s any hotties I should watch out for this year.”

“…Didn’t you _just_ break up with Gunhee last week?”

“Yes, and I don’t want to dwell on it. It’s best to move on,” he shrug casually before going back to his investigation. Minki frowns, “Why are all these boys so thin and weak looking? I need a _man_.”

“They’re first years—still teenagers, Minki. If you want someone more mature looking, look for a senior or one of the grad students,” Minhyun reasons.

“What about Dongho hyung’s brother?” Jaehwan joins the conversion after putting away his phone. “If he’s anything like him, he’s probably manly looking. Genes don’t lie, after all.”

“Oh yeah, I heard he’ll be studying here this year,” Minhyun spoke as both he and Minki turn to the music student. “Which reminds me, I don’t think I’ve ever met Dongho’s brother, have you?” he asks Minki, who shook his head.

“What’s this about my brother?” a new voice joins in.

The three turns to look at their new arrival, Kang Dongho. His hair is a bit damp but slicked back. His clothes are loose fitting as he has a duffel bag sling over his shoulders, appearing to have just been at the gym. The tall, masculine junior strode over to the trio as giggling girls glance his way. Words of admiration are passed around as university girls whisper to each other, tossing the word sexy in every five seconds. This isn’t much of a surprise; after all, Kang Dongho is known as the Sexy Bandit of Wanna One University. He has hoards of fans ranging from freshmen to middle-aged professors and from both female to male. His sex appeal is, quote, _on a whole other level_.

“Did they say Dongho has a brother?” one girl nearby whispers excitedly to her friend. “Do you think he’s as sexy as him?”

“Of course. They’re brothers, right? He’s probably oozing with sexiness,” the girl whispers back, trying to hold down her inner fangirling squeal. “If I can’t have Dongho oppa, then I’ll take the brother!”

“What? No, I want him!” another girl shouted.

“No, me!”

Before the guys realise what is happening, a small fight breaks out inside the café. Minhyun and Jaehwan gawks at the sight while Dongho facepalms. Minki, on the other hand, is cheering on the catfight, only to be hit on the back on his head by Minhyun for encouraging this behaviour. Eventually, the girls storm out, declaring they’ll get him first and races towards the first-year dormitory.

Minhyun turns worriedly to his friend. “Um… will your brother be alright?”

“And is he as hot as they think he is?” Minki adds in, only to be hit again.

“Completely unnecessary.” Minhyun shakes his head in disapproval.

Minki opens his mouth to protest but decides to use better judgement and shut his mouth. The three turns to Dongho, awaiting an answer as the man scratches the back of his head, unsure of his answer.

“My brother… is cute,” he finally settles on a description of his brother.

“…Cute?” the trio blinks, puzzled.

He coughs, “What I’m trying to say is, I don’t think I’m the right person to answer that, but I think those girls have unrealistic expectations of him. Besides, he’s my little brother. Of course, I think he’s cute.”

“Cute, huh? Well, I’ve like to meet this cute member of the Kang family,” a young man jokes as he joins their conversation.

Recognition lights up in their eyes as they wave to the new arrival as he makes his way over to the group. Minhyun is the first to greet him.

“You’ve already finish practice?” he asks.

“Yeah, it was cut short since they need the space for O-week,” he answers before stealing a piece of Jaehwan’s sandwich.

“Hyung!” Jaehwan pouts.

Ignoring him, he speaks to Dongho enthusiastically, “Let’s go meet your brother.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dongho sighs, looking at his watch. “My parents did say they’ll be here by noon.”

“Well, we better go get to your brother before he gets mobbed by those girls,” Jaehwan snickers, packing up this stuff.

“Nah, they’ll have to find him first,” Dongho states. “We don’t really look alike. Anyways, let’s go.”

Dongho, Jaehwan, and Minki leaves, and Minhyun is about to follow but stops when he sees his friend staring in the direction on the first years, grinning.

“Seongwoo?”

Ong Seongwoo smiles, walking to his friend. “I have a feeling it will be an interesting year, this year.”

♥ / / / . . . 옹넬 . . . / / / ♥

Kim Jonghyun, a student leader who is known to be quite involved in the school and the community and who is loved by peers and staff alike, is dreading this day. Why?

Because it is the first day of orientation.

Now, please don’t misunderstand. Jonghyun loves being involved with orientation week. He loves his own orientation back when he was a first year, and this is his second time as an orientation leader. Being a peer and role model that first years can go to for advice is something he enjoys, and being a student leader here during this very important week is something that he is very proud of being.

But today is the _first day_ of orientation.

It is _move-in_ day—a.k.a. hell day for O-week leaders.

As _helpful_ and _caring_ student leaders, they are tasked with the very important role today of helping the new students move into their dorms.

This is just a fancy—and very _deceptive_ —way of saying they’re move-in slaves for the day and must spend the entire day—in the _freezing, cold_ weather—helping the students to carry all their stuff to their new rooms. And it _just so happens_ that the elevator isn’t working today—of _all days_ —and the dorms have twelve floors— _twelve_ f—

Jonghyun pauses in mid-thought. No, he isn’t going to think like that; he is better than that. He’s just tired from climbing twelve floors, back and forth in the _freezing, cold_ early March weather for the past _three_ hours already—without a break, may he add.

It’s fine, really. Just a few boxes: some light ones, some not-so-light ones… sometimes they bring mini fridges… It’s fine—they’re _only_ like _fifty pounds_ … up _twelve_ flights of stairs… for the past _three_ hours—

“Jonghyunie!” someone calls, breaking his train of thought.

He glances up and spots his close friends waving to him. He waves back, smiling as he catches a towel being thrown at him. He didn’t realise that he is sweating so much, and sudden gust of wind doesn’t do much to ease his comfort as he shivers in the late winter weather.

“Hyung, you should take a break,” Jaehwan suggests. “There’s enough people helping out.”

“I… can’t,” he says reluctantly—regretting it the moment he said those words. “It’s peak hours; there’ll be a lot of students who need help moving in.”

“Dude, stop torturing yourself,” Dongho frowns, giving him a bottle of water.

“Sorry guys; I can’t,” he sighs sadly.

“I didn’t realise Jonghyun’s a M…” Minki obverses quietly to himself but is heard and rewarded with a slap to the back of his head again from Minhyun and a snicker from Seongwoo.

Someone calls Jonghyun over to help as another car pulls up. Muttering an apology, he leaves as his five closest friends watches him return to his self-inflicted torture. They move inside the nearest building to warm up as they watch new students arrive to campus. Most of the new students displays excitement for being university students; some students seem nervous about leaving home for the first time, and some students wear a smug look on their faces, self-classifying themselves as the “elites” for being able to get into such a prestigious university—probably believing they can achieve the same level of success that they did in high school.

“Poor misguided souls, so innocent and pure,” Minki shakes his head upon spotting the arrogant ones. “They haven’t experienced the reality called university yet.”

This time, Minhyun agrees with him one hundred percent.

“When’s your brother getting here?” Seongwoo questions, looking bored of waiting.

“Hmm… he’s not returning my texts,” Dongho frowns at him phone. “He probably turned it to silent and forgot to turn it back… again. He…” Dongho stops, looking for the right words and wondering if he should be subtle about it. “He can be a clueless idiot sometimes.”

Nope, definitely not subtle.

“Hahaha,” Seongwoo laughs. “Now I really want to meet him.”

Suddenly, Seongwoo’s phone beeps. Fishing it out, he spots the name and smiles, but after a few messages, his mood changes to annoyance. The guys exchange knowing glances with each other but waits for Seongwoo to finish. Finally looking away at this phone, he sends apologetic glances to his friends.

“The girlfriend,” Minki answers for him, getting straight to the point. “We get it. Go.”

Seongwoo scratches his head sheepishly. “Sorry guys.”

“It’s fine. I’ll introduce you to my brother later,” Dongho waves him off.

Nodding, he quickly leaves, although feeling bad for ditching his friends—again. As much as he loves his girlfriend, sometimes… she can be a little needy. She didn’t sound very happy during their exchange together. Maybe it’s that time of the month again?

Seongwoo reminds himself not to piss her off. Maybe they can—

His thoughts break off as he accidentally collides with someone, causing that person to drop his stuff.

“Shoot, sorry about that!” Seongwoo panics, bending down to help the guy pick up his stuff.

“No, no. It’s okay. I should have been looking where I was going. Hahaha,” the guy cheerfully laughs it off.

He must be a first-year, Seongwoo concludes as he hurriedly places his stuff in the box until one last item is left on the ground. He reaches for it just as the new student also reaches for it, and their hands accidentally brush against each other.

At that moment, both of them look up at each other for the first time.

The first thing Seongwoo sees is a refreshingly cute eye-smile with a mole at the corner of this right eye, but what catches his attention next is his bright peach pink hair. His eyes linger on the hair, wondering who in their right mind dyes their whole head _pink_. Maybe that guy is an art student, and this is his way of expressing his creative flare?

He suddenly realises that the boy is staring intensely back at him. Seongwoo, being the guy that he is, couldn’t let this opportunity pass by him.

“I know I’m good looking and all, but there’s no need to stare,” he winks jokingly, but the reaction he is expecting… is unexpected as the guy blushes bright red—almost as bright as his hair. Seongwoo laughs out loud. _This first-year pretty cute_. He thinks, wanting to tease him more but decides against it. “I’m kidding. Here,” he says as he hands over the remaining item.

Still blushing, he takes it and thanks him. Nodding, Seongwoo leaves as the new student watches with a seemingly puzzle face.

“Hmmm… he seems familiar somehow…” the boy murmurs to himself.

“Daniel, what’s the hold up?” his mother calls out.

Kang Daniel turns to see that his parents are already half way to his new residence building. “Ah! Coming!” he shouts. Picking up the box, he hurries to them but stops after a few steps to look in the direction of the guy who bumped into him.

“Those three dots on his face…” Daniel murmurs to himself, only to suddenly feel light-headed. Shaking away the dizziness, he stabilises himself. “Ah, forget it. It’s probably not important,” he tells himself.

“At least… I hope so.”

♥ / / / . . . 옹넬 . . . / / / ♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they finally "meet" again!
> 
> Notes:   
> 1) Yes, his name is now Daniel. Name change will be explained later in some future chapter.
> 
> 2) Some character ages/age gaps will differ as I'm trying to fit characters based on the contestant's personalities (so yes... some dongsaengs will become hyungs and vice versa...). I'll add more character/relationship tags will as the story progresses.
> 
> 3) If you're wondering, move-in day situation was something that happened irl. The elevator broke during move-in day one year. Thankfully, I wasn't the unfortunate soul that had to carry stuff up that building. Hehehe
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)
> 
> P.S. OMG we're getting so much OngNiel content lately! I'm crying... I'm so happy ^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel gets lost on campus but eventually meets up with his brother and his friends. Along the way, he keeps making... err... not the best first impressions...

_“My blank page fell onto the dirty ground below. Tiny specks of dirt dirtied the page. I wiped it off, only to smear the ugly brown onto my no-longer blank page… a permanent mark that can no longer be erased.”_

♥ / / / . . . 옹넬 . . . / / / ♥

Daniel opens the door to his new home for the next ten months.

His room is located on the eleventh floor of the building with a great view of the campus. The room is average size with white walls and has a large window covering the far wall of the room. There are two sets of each piece of furniture, mirroring each other on both the left and right sides of the room. The closets and dressers face the back of the room with a small mirror on top of the dresser. The single-sized bed is in the middle, and the desk is located at the back, against the window. There are also curtains hanging in the middle of the room that can be used to divide the room for privacy purposes.

As Daniel set his stuff on his side of the room, he notices that his roommate hasn’t arrived yet. Although Daniel has a fairly outgoing personality, he couldn’t help but feel relief about putting off the meeting of his roommate. He is definitely nervous about the whole affair with worry seeping into his head again.

What if they don’t get along? What if his roommate is a light sleeper, and Daniel’s teeth grinding and sleep-talking keeps him up at night? Should he buy duct tape and tape his mouth close every night? What if they are too different, and the next ten months becomes the most awkward ten months of their lives?

“Daniel? Are you okay?” his father’s voice disrupts his worries.

Daniel looks up at him, remembering to smile brightly. “Hmm? Yeah, don’t worry! I’m just wondering what my roommate will be like. I hope we can be good friends!”

“Oh, Sweetie, I’m sure you’ll be great friends,” his mother assures him, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Now, this is everything. I guess it’s time to go. We’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too!” Daniel chirps, bringing his parents into a big hug.

“If anything happens, call your brother,” his father reminds him.

“Aww, Dad. I don’t want to bother him,” Daniel pouts mischievously. He’ll definitely be bothering him. It’s been several years since his older brother, Dongho, left home for school. He decided to transfer to a middle school in Seoul several years back, leaving his hometown to live in the school dorms, and although he does visit during holidays and breaks, Daniel rarely see him as often as before.

After they left, Daniel proceeds to unpack his stuff. Opening the boxes, he removes the items to lay out his stuff on his bed. He didn’t bring a lot of things—just the basics: clothes, school supplies, daily necessities, some snacks, and a few pictures of friends, family, and his cats. It didn’t take the freshman very long to organise and put away all of his stuff. While break down the cardboard box, he accidentally knocks one of his bags to the ground, spilling the contents on the floor.

With a light sigh, he proceeds to collect his stuff, but one item in particular catch his eyes. It's a small pouch, about the size of a pencil case, with cute cat patches that his mother has sewn on for him. His mother gave it to him this morning, telling him to keep it just in case.

_Just in case._

Emotionlessly, he picks up the tiny pouch which feels like it weighs a tonne in his large hands. It feels hot in his hands, like poison seeping out of the bag and paralysing his hand. He wants to throw it in the garbage—to cleanse his life of the constant reminder of his imperfections.

He didn’t want it. He told his mother it wasn’t necessary. He didn’t need it anymore.

She didn’t trust him.

Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door. Without thinking, he pulls open a random drawer and throws the pouch inside before slamming it shut. Taking a few breaths to calm his racing heart, he calls out.

“Come in.”

The door opens, and a young man with blond hair and holding a clipboard walks in with a large smile on his face.

“Hi there. You must be Kang Daniel,” he greets cheerfully, checking over the list in his hands and making sure he has the right person. “I’m Hong Eunki, your don. Welcome to Wanna One University.”

Daniel bows, greeting him. “It’s nice to meet you, Sir.”

Eunki laughs. “There’s no need to be so stiff. We’re close in age, so you can call me Hyung,” he tells him before explaining some general stuff about the dorms. “Also, we’ll be having a floor meeting this evening at about six p.m., and then, we’ll all walk over to your orientation event tonight,” Eunki explains. “Well, that’s all for now. I’ll see you later. I hope you enjoy your first year here.”

“Thank you.” Daniel bows again as he watches Eunki leave. He’s thankful on more than one occasion, glad for the distraction from his unpleasant thoughts.

After he finishes unpacking, he picks up with phone with the intent of looking at cute cat posts on social media, but instead, he sees sixteen text messages and three missed calls… all from his older brother.

“Oops…” Daniel realises his phone is on silent this whole time. “I hope he’s not mad…”

He sends a series of messages, profoundly apologising and telling Dongho that he’ll meet up with him soon. Once Dongho sends him a place to meet, Daniel grabs a jacket and heads out to find his brother.

It is a little past one in the afternoon. The sun helps to warm up the cooler March weather as crowds of students walk around the campus—both returning and new ones. He looks in awe as he explores his new school, walking around the unfamiliar space. Daniel watches as friends embrace each other and couples walk hand in hand along the tranquil campus pathways. He finds himself wishing to experience this kind of university life as well.

He quickly shakes away the thought. No, he _will_ experience university life to the fullest. He’ll make sure of it.

Daniel peaks into the windows of buildings and stops to admire noticeable statues around campus. In fact, he is so engrossed that he temporarily forgets about his brother as he ventures deeper into the school grounds. He is amazed at how large the campus is, but he is also a bit flustered _because_ it is so big—that’s a round about way of saying he is lost.

Daniel eventually wanders near a building adjacent to a large open green space before stopping, crossing his arms in frustration. “I should have brought a map with me… Maybe I should ask for directions?”

Suddenly, he hears laughter nearby. Turning his head, he spots a slightly ajar door a few metres away from him. Maybe someone inside could help him out?

Daniel walks over to the door. The closer he moves towards the door, the more clearly he can hear the voices inside. It sounds like there were two people inside: a girl and a guy. They are talking softly to each other with the two giggling every so often. Peaking inside slightly, Daniel immediately pulls away, blushing furiously.

 _What did I just see?_ He asks himself before slowly bringing his eyes back to the scene.

Inside, in what appears to be some kind of fitness studio, the girl is leaning her body up against the guy’s, pressing her back against the guy’s chest as she wraps her left hand back around his neck seductively with her hand weaving through his hair while her right hand is on the guy’s hips. On the other hand, the guy has his arms around the girl’s tiny waist with his left hand grazing the girl’s exposed thigh. He brings his mouth to her ear and whispers something to her, causing her to look down, blushing. The girl starts to move down, grinding almost erotically against the guy as her left hand moves down with her, letting her fingers brush down along his ear to his collarbones.

Daniel wonders if he is intruding and should leave, but he didn’t want to get anymore lost than he already is. His face grows redder as the woman suddenly spins around, grabbing his shirt and pulling his face close to her as if she is going to kiss him.

Deciding it’s best if he leaves, he moves away, only to realise his jacket got caught on an uneven part of the door. The sudden jerk of the momentum causes him to lose his footing, and he trips face first inside the room. The abrupt noise causes the couple to move away in surprise.

“Oww…” Daniel groans, massaging his elbow that took the hardest blow.

“Who are you? And were you spying on us?” the girl demands, sounding disgusted.

Daniel looks up, finally seeing the face of the couple. The first person he spots is the girl, and the first thing that comes to mind is that she is gorgeous: long flowing hair, large brown eyes, and lustrous red lips. She is probably the most beautiful girl he has ever laid eyes on. If not for the obvious scowl on her face, Daniel would likely be gawking right now.

Finally looking away from her, his eyes meets the guy’s and a look of recognition sparks in his eyes.

“Oh, it’s you!” he exclaims, quickly straightening his shirt.

The woman looks to her boyfriend. “Oppa, do you know him?”

“Ah, not really. I just bumped into him earlier today,” he replies before turning to Daniel smirking playfully. “So instead of staring, it’s peaking now? My, you really have bad habits.”

“Wha—N-no!” Daniel’s face instantly heats up. “I-I’m just lost, and I heard voices and thought someone could help me… but um… I’m sorry if I interrupted something…”

The guy immediately blushes, shaking his head profoundly. “It’s not what it looks like,” he states. “Don’t misunderstand. It’s practice, club practice.”

His girlfriend frowns. “Seongwoo oppa, we don’t have to tell him anything… In fact, he looks kind of creepy, if you ask me… Should we call campus security?” she whispers the last part, and although Daniel heard it clearly, he didn’t comment.

“Relax Doyeon. It’s fine,” he laughs, bending to kiss her on the cheek.

Daniel debates in his head whether he should look away or not. Even his parents never show such public displays of affection, and quite frankly, he feels uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he won’t deny the fact that the two in front of him look really good together. Both of them are tall with a good body and very attractive looking.

He could feel a slight pang in his chest. What’s this feeling? Maybe he’s jealous? After all, Daniel has never dated in his life, so the thought of having someone special makes him a bit envious.

He shakes his head, blushing furiously. Why is he thinking such weird thoughts? Oh God, maybe he should have just turned around and left the moment he saw such an intimate scene.

“You’re a freshman, correct?” the guy, Seongwoo, asks. “Where do you need help getting to?”

As Seongwoo is giving out directions, a happy feeling lifts Daniel’s spirit. Despite his joking manner, Daniel decides that he likes Seongwoo. He isn’t judging him like his girlfriend is, and this is the second time he helped him. Taking a glance at his face, he finds three moles on his face, forming into a triangle if you connect the dots. Daniel muffles a snicker threatening to escape as he didn’t want to seem rude to Seongwoo, who is helping him.

Just then, a thought crosses his mind again. Where has he seen those three dots before? They look so familiar, yet, he doesn’t remember.

Constellations, maybe? He’s sure there’s a constellation that makes a triangle shape…

Without thinking, he pokes the dots with his finger, not realising that Seongwoo has stopped talking to stare at him.

“Just what are you doing?” Doyeon demands, pulling his hand away. Fuming, she turns to Seongwoo. “Oppa, I think we should call security.”

Flustered, Daniel spoke. “I—sorry, I didn’t mean to! I wasn’t thinking!”

Seongwoo, however, just laughs it off. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Hahaha, you’re a weird kid.”

Daniel bows, feeling extremely embarrassed. “Again, I’m so sorry, and thank you for the directions…” he pauses. Should he say his name? Would that be too rude since he is his senior in school and since he never formally introduced himself?

The guy smiles sincerely, noticing his dilemma. “Ong Seongwoo,” he introduces. “Third-year, and that’s my girlfriend, Kim Doyeon. She’s a second year.”

“Ah,” Daniel returns the smile, feeling a lot less tense. “My name’s Kang Daniel. It’s nice to meet you. Anyways, sorry about everything. I guess I’ll see you around campus?” he laughs awkwardly, but Seongwoo just flashes a large grin.

“Yeah, see you around.”

♥ / / / . . . 옹넬 . . . / / / ♥

Kang Dongho sits impatiently on a sofa in the student lounge. He has told his younger brother to meet him here… two hours ago. Even though Dongho is usually a patient guy, his brother’s airhead-like behaviour can be extremely frustrating sometimes. He has no doubt in his mind that Daniel is either one of two things: lost or found a cat and decided to chase after it to who knows where.

He sighs, frustrated. “I should have just met him at his dorm. What was I thinking?” he groans, banging his head on the armrest.

“Well, the campus is pretty big. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got lost,” Minhyun comments, although, not bothering to look up from the book he’s reading. He shifts slightly on the sofa into a more comfortable position since Jaehwan fell asleep on his lap not long ago.

“The lounge is literally smack-dab dead in the centre on campus. How can you _not_ find it?” Minki sets his phone down to retort. “God, how much of an idiot is your brother? How are you even brothers?”

Dongho sighs again, not bothering to answer his question—this question being all too familiar as no one could find any semblance of the two Kang brothers, in looks nor in personality.

Daniel is a very laidback guy who’s always laughing and smiling for no apparent reason—even at the most inappropriate of times. He’s childlike and can be an airhead who can’t read the atmosphere very well. Dongho, on the other hand, is a more serious, get-to-the-point type of guy. Sometimes he can be a little too straightforward to the point where people think he’s too controlling or scary, but underneath his exterior image, Dongho is actually a softy inside.

“And it also looks like word of your brother’s attendance here spread fairly quickly,” Minki adds, glancing at the room full of girls peeping in their direction. “The freshman brother of the Sexy Bandit is a hot topic on Wanna One Confessions,” he chuckles, flashing his phone that shows a popular student-made website about hot topics, gossip, news—real or not—and of course, anonymous student confessions.

Dongho raise an eyebrow. “You can’t be serious…” he facepalms.

Minki shrugs nonchalantly. “It’s a school filled with sex-driven young adults who needs some hot ass to help relieve them of their stress and desires. If the resident sexiest guy on campus can’t help them, why not Sexy Bandit Junior?”

Dongho shudders, feeling sick. “Please stop. Don’t corrupt the image I have of my baby brother.”

“Hyung!”

A voice calls out, and the three friends, minus a sleeping Jaehwan, plus about two dozen university girls look in the direction of the newcomer. He is tall with broad shoulders and smiling with the dorkiest look on his face. His two front teeth stick out, like rabbit teeth, but the thing that caught Dongho’s attention the most is his blinding peach pink hair.

Furrowing his brows, Dongho is confused at first. Who is this kid, and why is he looking at him while waving and calling him hyung? Narrowing his eyes, Dongho looks pass the distracting pink hair—and it is _very_ distracting, may he point out—and realises he’s the one they’ve been waiting for.

“…Daniel?” Dongho chokes in disbelief.

Minhyun and Minki both looks away from their activity to gawk. “That’s your brother…?”

Murmurs from the crowd of girls arise as girls look at each other in confusion and disbelief, launching into conspiracy theories about the Kang brothers or outright denying the truth.

“That _pink_ thing is Dongho oppa’s brother?”

“No way. Fake.”

“Why does he have pink hair?”

“Doesn’t he remind you of something? Hmmm… oh, he looks like that apeach _butt_ character.”

“Maybe his brother got kidnapped and replaced with a downgraded version of him.”

“Maybe he’s adopted?”

Minhyun and Minki look between Dongho, Daniel, and the crowd of girls, feeling the atmosphere tense up—even Jaehwan woke up with all the noise in the room, looking slightly confused before spotting Daniel and putting the pieces together. Dongho clearly isn’t too happy with the comments about his brother, but Daniel, on the other hand, is still smiling as if he didn’t hear the nasty comments—either that or he’s outright ignoring them.

“Let’s go,” is all that Dongho needs to say before the three gather their stuff and follow Dongho as he grabs Daniel’s arm and drags him along with them.

“Huh? Hyung?” Daniel blinks cutely, seemingly a little confused.

“It’s getting a little crowded here. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Daniel stays quiet as he let with older brother drag him out of the room. He doesn’t say anything as Dongho’s hand tightens around his wrist or when Dongho starts to mumble incomprehensible words under his breath. After they find somewhere with fewer people around, Dongho looks Daniel in the eyes and says the first thing on his mind.

“Why the _hell_ is your hair _pink_?”

Daniel stares back at him for a few seconds before grinning cheekily. “I miss you too, Hyung.”

Dongho frowns and pinches his cheeks, stretching them to Daniel’s dismay. “Stop being so cheeky and answer the question.”

Daniel pouts slightly, rubbing his cheeks after his brother released them from his hold. “Ah… I lost a bet to Jaehan hyung.”

Dongho facepalms, cursing under his breath. “Kim Jaehan…”

“Ah, Hyung, it’s not completely his fault. I agreed to go though with it,” Daniel laughs it off. “Besides, it makes me stand out. At least people won’t forget who I am now.”

“Agh… this kid,” Dongho sighs, embarrassed for him. “Please go dye your hair back.”

Daniel laughs awkwardly. “About that… he told me I can’t change it back until the pink fades completely…”

“…” Dongho grabs his phone. “I need to have a serious talk with him.”

“But Hyung!” Daniels calls out, but Dongho has already started calling Jaehan, angrily leaving the room.

Daniel frowns. The pink hair isn’t really a big deal to him; it doesn’t bother him at all. In fact, he thinks the pink is cute, and Daniel does have a soft spot for cute things. He just hopes Dongho isn’t too hard on their childhood friend.

With Dongho angrily ripping Jaehan apart through his phone, Daniel introduces himself to his hyung’s friends.

“So, this is the infamous little brother,” Minki observes, poking Daniel in the cheek. “Hmm, I guess he is kind of cute in a non-romantic way—like a puppy… a _giant_ puppy.”

“Minki, you’re being rude,” Minhyun hisses.

Daniel laughs. “It’s fine. It’s fine,” he repeats cheerfully as he settles into his seat.

After Dongho returns from his ranting, Daniel is told that Jaehan relented the bet after some persuasion—more like threats, Daniel thought—but Daniel laughs it off and reassures him that the pink hair is fine. Besides, he didn’t want to have to go dye his hair _again_ ; it’s better to let the colour fade out on its own. Although unhappy with his decision, Dongho respects his brothers wishes.

For the next few hours, Daniel has gotten to know more about Dongho’s friend and more about university life. Minki introduces him to Wanna One Confessions—to which Dongho scolds him for corrupting his brother with a nonsensical, pointless, and artificial website. Daniel feels embarrassed that he ended up making the first page of the website due to his relation to his brother.

They also tell him about Mnet University that’s down the street from Wanna One University. Apparently, the two universities hate each other, and they have some sort of intense rivalry between them. According to Minki, Mnet University is known as the delinquent university due to the excessive amount of behaviour problems at that school including intense partying involving illegal activities, various types of assaults, alleged doping problems with their sports teams and more. Minhyun just rolled his eyes during Minki’s explanation and told Daniel to be wary of whatever Minki says as he tends to exaggerate frequently.

Daniel feels at ease with his brother’s friends. Even though they are his seniors, they didn’t treat him any less or treat him merely as their friend’s brother—they treat him as if he’s already a part of their clique. He’s glad he at least has other people to talk to besides his brother here. Although, his brother is questionable since sometimes, shamefully, Dongho feels like a stranger to Daniel.

Dongho left when Daniel was thirteen, and the sense of betrayal was left in his stead. It took a while, but eventually, the brothers worked out the awkwardness between them—although, Daniel admits, they still aren’t 100% there yet, but they’re trying their best to rekindle their broken relationship. Hopefully, now that they’re going to the same school, they’ll have more opportunities to amend their bond.

“You’ll probably meet Jonghyun tonight,” Minhyun adds. “He’s an orientation leader this year. He’s a good guy, kind of like our unofficial leader. If you need any help with anything, he’s the person you can talk to.”

“Speaking of orientation, don’t you have to go soon?” Jaehwan points out, looking at his watch.

Tonight, the freshmen are invited to mingling session to meet others in their year and faculty with the addition of dinner as well. It’s a good opportunity to meet new people, and hopefully, make new friends.

The group decides to walk Daniel over to his dorm, afraid that he’ll get lost— _again_. Upon reaching their destination, Daniel notes how close his dorm is to their initial meeting point—to which the group facepalms. After exchanging contact, Daniel waves goodbye to them and heads inside.

Thankfully, the elevator has been fixed by now. Although Daniel still has a lot of energy, he really doesn’t want to walk up eleven flights of stairs again.

Making his way over to his room, which is close to one of the corners of the building, he can hear laughter coming from his room. Perhaps his roommate has already arrived, Daniel notes. He stops just outside the door, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart. Why is he so nervous? He’ll be fine; he’s the type of person who can make friends easily.

“You can go this,” Daniel whispers to himself before inserting the key into the lock and turning it, only for the key to get stuck.

The conversation inside stops as Daniel tugs the doorknob and the keys, jiggling it to turn properly. Suddenly, the lock clicks open as Daniel is in the midst of tugging the door, and he accidentally throws the door open.

Unfortunately, Daniel was too focused on the lock that he didn’t hear someone walk up to the door. Before he realises what happened, he feels the door hit something and finds someone bent over on the ground, holding his head in pain, and two sets of eyes lock onto Daniel’s in bewilderment.

Daniel’s eyes widen as he looks back and forth between the people in the room and gulps nervously.

Well, that’s certainly one way of making an impression.

♥ / / / . . . 옹넬 . . . / / / ♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry for the long wait, and thank you to everyone who read and gave hearts! ^^
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, and yes, Ongniel is slowly getting there. Be patient! :)
> 
> Some subtle stuff about his past is dropped in this chapter. I hope it's not too obvious... 
> 
> And can anyone guess who is Daniel's roommate? He'll play an important role in the story; I can't wait to introduce him next chapter! :D


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